G Chaser 1 point 5: Insight
by BDM
Summary: After barely surviving a new monster attack, soldier Peter Hutchinson makes enquiries which lead to worrying discoveries about the powers of the hydra demon, King Ghidorah...
1. The Second Battle of Hastings

**The Second Battle of Hastings**

He could remember it all so clearly.

It was just like that night years ago, when that thing came to Earth and proceeded to annihilate England in the space of a day. That gigantic, three-headed, golden dragon that had come to be known as Monster Zero had caused an event that had come to be known by many as 'the Second Blitz'. The name had come about slowly, apparently because several veterans had drawn up those comparisons with those horrific nights when the country was bombed during World War 2, and now it just kind of stuck.

Commander Peter Hutchinson, of the recently-formed Biohazard Countermeasure Unit, was now beginning to wonder if this was the sort of feeling those veterans had gone through that time. Right now he was feeling the same way, drawing up comparisons between the past and the present. After all, he was one of the few survivors from Monster Zero's attack, and had played a small part in the creature's defeat. His unit had now been called out of shore leave for this latest threat. It was small wonder he remembered the past so vividly, given what was happening now.

Twenty minutes earlier, at about 1943 hours, numerous reports had come in of an enormous object, cutting a path through the English Channel towards the coast just off Dover. Tracking stations had all confirmed the sighting, and several Navy destroyers had been sent out to investigate. The object had passed right by them, but eyewitness accounts all stated that it was another giant monster of some kind. The order had been given to evacuate all towns and cities along the south coast, and everyone in cities not far away such as London and Birmingham had been ordered to be ready to leave at any minute. Hutchinson and his old unit, several of whom were from the same unit that assisted in defeating Monster Zero, were called to the area around Hastings, just in case the fighting should spread there.

Sure enough, not long later, an enormous monster had made landfall just outside Dover. Eyewitness accounts stated it to be some kind of dinosaur, a quadrupedal reptile with a back covered in sharp spines, and a long tail with sharp barbs on the end. The creature had to measure at least 200 ft. from snout to tail-tip. Some of the more educated people who saw the monster suggested it to be an enormous ankylosaur, but how something like that could still be alive, let alone much larger than fossil findings had suggested, was beyond anyone's comprehension.

As it had made landfall, units from the Territorial Army and Royal Air Force had been waiting, and had opened fire on the creature. The armed forces had learned from the Monster Zero attack that it would be too much to hope that they could kill this creature, but they could at least try to drive him off. As it turned out though, any hopes of deterring the monster proved false. The monster's armour was like a tank; machine-gun fire proved completely pointless, and shells and missiles from tanks and fighter jets served only to aggravate the creature further. No matter how many shells exploded, they didn't even dent the creature's thick hide. It had then suddenly released a loud, high-pitched roar, and suddenly charged, running on all fours away from the area, flattening an entire tank battalion in the process. The fighter jets had flown straight after the rampaging ankylosaur, but they were having difficulty keeping up. The creature was incredibly fast, despite its size, and soon it had arrived at Hastings. Hutchinson saw the monster's arrival first-hand, could see it charging straight at them from several miles away, could hear it's loud footfalls drawing ever closer. He had given the order to evacuate the area, even knowing that monster would soon be upon them.

However, even as the order had left his mouth, there was a loud squawk and a sound like a rush of wings. The noise clearly startled the ankylosaur, which suddenly stopped and jerked its head around, trying to identify the source of the noise. It was then that the humans witnessed a huge pterosaur swoop into the area, heading straight at the ankylosaur. The new arrival's wingspan was huge, and it was hundreds of feet tall to match. As it rushed overhead, a sudden violent breeze ripped through the area, almost lifting the frightened humans off their feet. Hutchinson could only pray that there would still be buildings standing from those gusts; the nearest town was only a few miles away.

As he watched, the pterosaur flew straight at the ankylosaur, suddenly stopping and hovering in front of its opponent, flapping its huge wings to keep it airborne. Hutchinson couldn't clearly see what was happening; even with the searchlights set up, the pterosaur's back was to the humans, blocking the ankylosaur from view. The ankylosaur let out a loud wail, and raised a front claw to swipe at the pterosaur. As the flying creature quickly took itself higher to get out of the way, Hutchinson could now clearly see a large gash on the ankylosaur's snout. The pterosaur must have swiped at it with its sharp talons. The fighter jets had now caught up to the ankylosaur, and were now taking pot shots at both creatures, with neither machine guns nor missiles proving to have any noticeable effect.

Those had been the events of the last few minutes. Now, back in the present, the pterosaur was falling back. Everyone at the large garrison inadvertently ducked as it suddenly swooped overhead. It stopped and hovered scant yards from the garrison, which was no more than a couple of miles away from the ankylosaur, seemingly paying no attention to the humans cowering in front of it. This struck Hutchinson as odd; neither creature seemed overly bothered by the humans unless they opened fire, whereas Monster Zero had sometimes gone out of its way to kill anybody who tried to escape it. Were these things little more than animals? Around him, he could see the vehicles in the garrison moving, trying to get the men and machinery out of the zone between the two creatures.

However, they would never have the time to evacuate. For the pterosaur suddenly flapped its enormous wings in front of it repeatedly, and all at once vicious winds began ripping through the area. The soldiers were knocked off their feet and forced to scrabble for cover, as several tanks were caught in the blast and dragged along the grass. Some of the tanks even turned on their heads, one or two even started rolling away with the gusts. Several trees in the area were uprooted, crashing to the ground. In the midst of the howling winds, Hutchinson could hear the pilots of the fighter jets over the radio, hearing their agonised yells. Looking behind them, he saw the planes get caught in the hurricane-force winds and be forced back, spinning into oblivion. He also saw the ankylosaur laying flat to the ground, remaining firmly rooted to the spot. At last the winds died down, the garrison now a wreck, but with surprisingly few casualties. That attack had sent the pterosaur backward some considerable distance, but Hutchinson saw it spread those wings, and take off in the direction of the other dinosaur. The ankylosaur was still bent low to the ground, as if getting ready to charge again.

"Damnit!" Hutchinson yelled as he picked himself up, seeing the crews of the wrecked tanks come running back to the main unit. "How many guns do we have?"

"Seven tanks still operational!" one soldier called out. "We can't take much more of this! We've got to drive them back or we've had it!"

Hutchinson cursed under his breath. In one fell swoop most of their artillery had been decimated. The Air Force were no doubt scrambling more fighter jets to replace the lost men, and the Navy was certainly taking its time to arrive and provide backup. No doubt they were still debating the use of long-range missiles, given that they were not far from populated areas. He could hear a lot of garbled speech over his radio, and a number of yells as furious orders were given, but nothing was distinct. It was hard for him to fathom what was going on amidst the confusion. All he knew for certain was that this had to end quickly, before they lost too many men. Hutchinson picked up his radio.

"All units!" he called, "Aim for the flying monster! Open fire!"

At once all of the remaining guns sounded, the shells flying straight at the pterosaur's flight path. However, at the last possible instant the creature suddenly flew straight up, pulling off a loop-the-loop, dodging clear of the tank shells which all exploded uselessly in midair. It released a loud cry as it did so, and resumed its course for its opponent.

As it reached the ankylosaur though, the ground-based creature suddenly sprung forward, actually leaping little over a hundred feet off the ground. Hutchinson figured that its back legs had to be extremely powerful to allow it to make such a jump. As it jumped, it tackled the pterosaur in mid-air. Both creatures let out loud shrieks as they fell to the ground. The ground shook violently as they impacted on the ground, sending the soldiers sprawling. Mounds of earth flew up as the two monsters, seemingly locked in a deadly embrace, came crashing quite close to the garrison.

The soldiers quickly picked themselves up. Shouts of "Fall back!" could be heard, and the tanks were pulling out. Hutchinson turned back to see the two monsters slowly picking themselves up, now sporting numerous cuts and bleeding profusely. As the two creatures started dragging themselves to their feet, the soldiers ran for their lives, as the ankylosaur's tail suddenly swept dangerously close to the battalion. Hutchinson ran too, fearing that at any second the battle between these two was going to send them straight into the retreating soldiers.

"Cmdr. Hutchinson!" a scared voice resounded over the radio, as the two creatures began swiping each other frantically with their claws, "This is the HMS Endeavour! What's your battalion's status?"

"We're getting hammered!" Hutchinson yelled furiously, "Where the fuck is the long range support?!"

"We're sorry sir..." the seaman responded. "All of our armaments have been disabled! We can't fire long-range weapons!"

"What?!" Hutchinson said, stopping to look back out across the dark waters of the Channel. "How did you let that happen?!"

"The truth is..." the seaman stammered, "... they... they were disabled... gummed up... by..."

Even as the words were leaving the poor man's mouth, Hutchinson could hear something else. It was faint, but he was sure it was becoming clearer. The sound was a strange, unearthly singing. Glancing around, he noticed he wasn't the only one who seemed to be hearing things, as the rest of the surviving soldiers were gazing all around them, looks of extreme puzzlement on their faces.

"Sir!" one of the young corporals shouted, "Can you hear that singing?! Where the hell's it coming from?!"

All Hutchinson could do was shake his head in reply. Looking at the two monsters, it seemed they too were hearing the singing, and were equally at a loss to explain it. It was then that Hutchinson heard a loud, high-pitched cry; a cry that he'd heard before two years ago.

As he looked back out across the Channel, he could clearly see the outline of a gigantic moth creature against the star-strewn sky. As the surviving searchlights spun round to identify it, Hutchinson could see the brightly-coloured gossamer wings, with the very same markings as the moth that helped the humans to battle Monster Zero two years before. It had to be the same creature; there couldn't be any possible doubt. Hutchinson could scarcely believe his eyes. Neither could any of the other soldiers present.

Hutchinson began to see that this was a distraction he could use, as the two dinosaurs were now gazing intently at the moth, curious about the new arrival. He could see the tanks getting ready to fire again. They all had a clean shot. The young soldiers nodded, signalling they were ready to fire. It was now or never. Suddenly, as he was about to give the order to open fire, Hutchinson heard a loud female voice in his head, an ancient voice that sounded wise beyond the years.

_"Cmdr. Hutchinson! Cease your attack!"_

Hutchinson held his head in his hand. He was now hearing voices in his head, telling him not to fire, though looking around him no-one had spoken. He decided that he had to have imagined it; this was doubtless a result of stress.

_"I can lead these beings to a safe place, away from humans!"_ the voice spoke again, more determinedly, _"Please, I must ask you not to fire!"_

Hutchinson actually doubled over as he heard the voice in his head, louder this time. He wasn't imagining it. He really was hearing voices in his head, and now he feared the very real possibility that he was going mad. One of his unit saw him, and ran over.

"Sir!" he shouted. "What's going on? What's wrong?!"

Hutchinson slowly rose, looking back at the three creatures, who were gazing at each other intently, seemingly preparing to attack. The moth creature moved closer, and Hutchinson could hear the ankylosaur give a low snarl. He shook his head, trying to shut the voice out. If they didn't open fire now, they wouldn't get another chance.

_"Please..."_ the voice spoke, more reassuringly, _"They do not know that this land is no longer theirs to roam. They do not even know what humans are. Death should not be dealt so swiftly as punishment. This isn't like the events that destroyed your home all those years ago. They can still live in peace away from humans. Please... do not be so quick to judge."_

Hutchinson shook his head. Now the voices were sermonising to him, but at present he was in no mood to listen to any form of preaching. He had sworn to help defend this country from any monster invasions after the Monster Zero attack. He would not allow a repeat of the horrific events of that fateful night.

As he watched, he saw a soft light emanating from the moth. The other two creatures seemed to undergo a radical change. Their eyes drooped slightly, almost like they'd suddenly being drugged, they were moving slightly, out of the aggressive stances they'd taken before. Now that he saw them like this, Hutchinson couldn't help pitying them, even if he couldn't make sense of what was going on. They looked like lost children, just looking for somewhere to call home. He looked around him, seeing the rest of the battalion was completely in awe at this event.

Finally, one of them came to his senses long enough to ask, "What now, sir?"

For a few seconds, Hutchinson didn't answer. He was still awestruck by this sight, at this silent exchange between the behemoths. They all seemed to be waiting for something, though to Hutchinson it looked like some kind of silent conversation. He was finally snapped out of his entrancement as his radio buzzed loudly, as the seaman on HMS Endeavour spoke again.

"Sir!" the seaman began, "All artillery has been repaired! We're ready for your order, sir!"

Hutchinson was torn. If he didn't act, there was a danger these creatures could go berserk again, and if that happened, the battalion would almost certainly get wiped out. Yet if he fired on them, he started to wonder if that would make him responsible for murder. Even if he didn't kill them, there was nothing to stop them retaliating on the nearest populated area.

"Sir?" the seaman asked, "Do we fire?"

Hutchinson closed his eyes, knowing that he would regret what he was about to say.

"Negative," he said, receiving a number of startled looks from the soldiers around him. "All units, stand down. Repeat, _stand down_."

"Sir?" the soldier nearest him asked, "What are you saying? If we don't fire now, we-"

"I know!" Hutchinson half-shouted. "I know... My order stands. All units are to cease fire immediately."

Even as he said this, he saw the moth monster release a loud chirrup, before turning, and flying back out towards the Channel. The pterosaur instantly reared, taking off from the ground and following. The ankylosaur meanwhile released a hollow barking sound, before it stomped over the edge of the cliffs, landing with a resounding splash in the water below. Hutchinson could see its huge form swimming through the waters, following the two airborne creatures.

"The creatures are retreating!" the seaman radioed in, "Heading out towards the Atlantic. Do we set a pursuit course?"

"That's a negative," Hutchinson replied, now feeling slightly more confident in his decision. "Just let them go."

"Yes, sir," the seaman said, though he sounded like he was unsure of Hutchinson's orders. "Making for port."

The soldiers around him seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief, just happy to be alive after that encounter. Hutchinson knew he'd have a lot of explaining to do; the military top brass would no doubt be unhappy at his inaction, after everyone's reports were filed. His main worry though was the owner of that voice; who was she? Why did she want them to spare the monsters? What was going on here? As he watched the trio of monsters leave, he heard the voice come again, much fainter now.

_"Thank you..."_

Soon enough, the outlines of the three creatures faded completely into the night.

He dropped down onto the grass, feeling exhausted. He heard no victory cheers from the rest of the unit; their celebration was much quieter, more restrained. Maybe they felt it was a hollow victory. Hutchinson knew he was leaning towards that idea himself. He could hear them all, moving away, pulling the tanks out. Maybe some of them were grieving for the men they had lost, even though the death toll was nowhere near the level of Monster Zero's.

"Are you okay, sir?" he heard a voice ask. He turned around, seeing it was a young, blond-haired soldier. Pvt. Livingston, he recognised him to be.

"Oh... oh nothing," Hutchinson said, "Just tired..."

"I still can't believe it..." Livingston said, in a faint voice, "This'll be the second monster attack I've been involved in, and the second time I've seen that moth-thing save our arses. What is it with that bug?"

"Dunno," Hutchinson shrugged. Eventually, he managed to decide that there was no point sitting here. Keira would be waiting back at home, no doubt she'd seen any news reports and was waiting for her husband. He knew he couldn't keep her waiting. So he pulled himself up to his feet, and he and Livingston left to rejoin the troop.

"The top brass are never gonna believe this..." he muttered.


	2. Small People with Big Ideas

**Small People with Big Ideas**

Hutchinson staggered through the front door of his house in Hayward's Heath, miles away from the site of the recent battle. He had wanted to live in such a quiet, relatively isolated area, he had never been much of a fan of city life. For the last few hours he had been back at basecamp, providing a debriefing to his unit. They all looked up to him and respected him as a leader, and were aware that he was one of the British Army's best authorities on tactics against monsters, but he knew they would question his actions out on the field, and would have to report everything to the Admiralty. Right now though, he wasn't worrying about that as much as he probably should. He had not joined the rest of the platoon at the pub for a drink. Now that he was finally back home, well after midnight, all he wanted to do was sleep.

He walked through to the cosy living room, to find his 27 year-old wife of four years, Keira, waiting for him, curled up on the sofa watching the TV news. During the Monster Zero attack, she'd managed to get herself and their now 2 year-old son out of the country. They'd been very lucky in that respect, because no doubt after he was through with London, that monster would've hit the south coast; it was now widely believed that it had been on the point of mounting an assault on Dover. She beamed as she looked up and saw her husband, her hazel eyes gleaming in the soft light. She moved over on the sofa, giving him enough room to almost collapse on the seat. She leaned in closer to him, wrapping her arms around him.

"Hey," she said softly, "Welcome back, baby."

"Nice to be back," Hutchinson said, smiling. "How's Danny doing?"

"Fast asleep," Keira said. "He was out like a light, but not before wondering where his daddy had got to."

Hutchinson sighed. "I'm just glad he's still got his daddy," he said, genuine relief in his voice. His hand reached up to explore the smooth brown skin on his wife's face.

"So how was it?" Keira asked. "I've been watching the news, but I'd rather hear it from an eyewitness."

"Well, let me put it this way," Hutchinson said, "Just be glad it wasn't Monster Zero, or Godzilla for that matter."

He glanced over at the TV screen, which was now displaying a news update on what had happened at Hastings. The report was surprisingly accurate; after fighting amongst themselves and trashing a lot of the surrounding countryside, two dinosaur-like creatures were eventually led away by a giant moth. Amateur footage of the attack was now playing, rather shaky footage that had evidently been taken in a hurry, but still clear enough to show the battle in all of its supposed glory.

"You reckon any of those so-called G-Chasers took that footage?" Keira asked, "You know, like the guy that took the photos of that dragon?"

"Maybe," Hutchinson said. The minute he had seen the photos of that monster, he knew that somehow, against all the odds, the G-Chaser he met in that battle was still alive. He'd just disappeared though, Hutchinson had never seen or heard from him since. He'd not mentioned him by name, figuring the guy wasn't the sort who liked publicity.

"It was tough," he continued. "I honest-to-God thought we were done for out there against those two. Fancy that bug coming to save us again; I couldn't believe it when I saw it." He thought it best not to mention the voices or the singing; now that he was back home with his wife's arms around him, he scarcely believed it himself.

Keira chuckled slightly. "You're not jealous of a giant moth, are you?" she asked coyly.

"Me?!" Hutchinson said in mock outrage, "Jealous of that bug? I am offended, good lady!" Hutchinson let out a slight laugh, prompting Keira to shush him, herself barely fighting back giggles.

"Shut up, you idiot!" she said, grinning. "You'll wake Danny!"

"So?" Hutchinson said. "I want him to know what a hero his daddy is!"

The two of them leaned closer to each other. Even with a kid to raise, their relationship had always been strong. Hutchinson was crazy for Keira, he really felt he'd got it right first time when he decided to settle into a relationship. The broadcast then continued its coverage:

_"This attack comes scant hours after the recent protests outside Westminster today,"_ the newsreader read. _"There have been numerous calls for the government to stand down ever since evidence of attempts to cover up the 'Monster Zero' attack were brought to light last month. According to the protest organisers, the protests look set to continue, and they may even step up their campaign with this latest monster attack."_

"I knew this was gonna happen," Hutchinson said, his tone becoming more serious. "I couldn't believe our own government was trying to deny this happened on their doorstep. Now, because of that, we were unprepared for this attack tonight. Right now the BCU's a fucking joke, since it was cobbled together as a quick-fix. On top of that, because I let the monsters go, I'll probably end up getting dragged in front of the top brass to explain my actions."

"I guess they don't like the idea that they might come back," Keira shrugged.

"But I mean," Hutchinson said, closing his eyes and holding his forehead. "Fuck, I've kept asking them and asking them to send us out to Japan for a while to see how they cope, how the JSDF deal with things whenever Godzilla comes to call. I went out there myself, remember? I should've known I'd need clearance from the higher-ups here before I could even so much as accompany them. That was just over a year ago, and they still won't let me do a damn thing, even with this cover-up exposed."

"You saw that Mechagodzilla the Americans built, right?" Kiera asked, "Not to mention Godzilla. That has to count for something, right?"

"Yeah, I suppose," Hutchinson admitted. "Had to go with a group of G-Chasers though; the JSDF were having none of it. I was right in there with them when that doppleganger attacked."

"I remember reading about that in the papers," Keira replied, "You took that close-up photo of the machine, didn't you?"

"Yeah," he replied. "A whole load of those guys got killed though, I barely got away myself. But yeah, I saw what the Americans' mech was capable of, not to mention Godzilla himself. To think, before that G-Chaser told me about him, I didn't think he existed."

Keira chuckled. "I don't think anyone in England did. We didn't have any reason to. Interest in him certainly shot up after Monster Zero came, didn't it? Think of all those photos that keep appearing in the papers, showing Mechagodzilla and all those monsters. The world's gone monster-mad."

"Seems cameras are more reliable than artillery these days," Hutchinson sighed. "If only 'Kiryuu' had been finished a month earlier..." He looked away from the screen, gazing out of the window.

"What's wrong?" Kiera asked, concerned.

"Oh nothing," Hutchinson sighed. "I just couldn't help but worry; what if those dinos had been as powerful as Monster Zero? We wouldn't have stood a chance. Plus all this shit that's been going on lately is just getting me down."

"Hey," Keira said gently, leaning in closer so that their lips were almost touching, "Hang in their, honey. We'll pull through somehow, we'll survive. After all, Danny still needs his daddy, doesn't he?"

Hutchinson smiled reassuringly. She was right; they'd survived this long, they'd manage somehow. The pair of them moved closer to each other, before finally kissing deeply. She meant everything to him, and he knew the feeling was mutual.

Suddenly, there was a loud rushing sound, and several objects in the living room shook. Keira broke away from her husband, and looked around, slightly nervous. Hutchinson, slightly less aware than Keira was at present, looked at her confusedly.

"Hm?" he said, blinking blearily, "What is it?"

"Did you feel that?" Keira said, looking back at him, "That sudden shaking, like an earthquake?"

Hutchinson just shrugged. "Can't say I did. Now where were we?" he added, placing his arm around her again. He was tired, all he wanted to do was sleep beside his wife.

"Cmdr. Hutchinson?"

It took a few moments to register that someone besides them had spoken. Keira was clearly becoming more nervous, and Hutchinson sat upright, now fearing that his wife was imagining things.

"Cmdr. Hutchinson?"

Now Hutchinson definitely heard the voices. It was a pair of voices, female voices, sweet voices that rang like tiny bells. Neither of them could believe they were hearing these voices.

"Who's there?!" Keira called out nervously, looking all around her. "Where are you?"

"Down here," the voices responded calmly. Both Hutchinson and Keira looked down at the coffee table in the centre of the room. Their eyes went wide, and Keira let out a gasp of shock as they found the owners of the voices. For standing on the coffee table was a pair of tiny twin women, no more than a foot tall. Both of them had Oriental features, and were dressed in fine terracotta kimonos made of silk, their hair tied back in the same style; a long ponytail twined with gold threads. They both smiled pleasantly at the shocked couple. After the shock sank in, Keira stumbled, her mouth rapidly opening and closing like a goldfish.

"Good evening, Cmdr. and Mrs. Hutchinson," the twins said very politely, curtseying as they did so.

"Wha..." Keira stammered, evidently trying not to scream for fear of waking her son, "Wha-who-the fuck-wha-how-wha-" All Hutchinson could do was look wide-eyed, trying not to pass out from shock, his mouth opening and closing like a goldfish. Upon seeing this the twins looked shocked themselves, then bowed their heads, hands held in prayer.

"Our most sincere apologies!" they spoke in unison, their voices full of apology. "We forgot our appearance can be startling to those not used to it!"

Keira just looked over at her husband, confused out of her mind. She wanted her husband to give her an answer, but he looked as confused as she was.

Finally, Hutchinson gathered enough courage to speak. "What... who are you?"

The twins looked between the couple. They only looked in their late teens/early twenties, but they showed signs of wisdom beyond their years.

"We are the last of the Cosmos," the girls explained, "the last race of shobijin dedicated to protecting all life on this Earth."

"C-Cosmos?" Hutchinson repeated, clearly not understanding the explanation, "Shobijin? What the hell?"

The twins clearly didn't take offence, as they smiled serenely at both Hutchinson and Keira.

"You may think of us as 'fairies'," they said, "if you find it easier to remember."

Hutchinson and Keira looked at each other. Both of them just wanted to run away from these Cosmos or whatever they were. Both of them were shocked out of their minds. Yet something stopped them from leaving. Hutchinson pinched himself so hard; it hurt so much he knew he wasn't dreaming. Keira, shaking, looked back at the two fairies.

"F-fairies?!" she stammered, "But surely... fairies don't exist?!" The twins didn't look angry; they just continued to smile peacefully, as if without a care in the world.

"This world holds many stranger mysteries than many humans could understand," they said calmly, "We can understand your scepticism." They then turned back to Hutchinson. "We are here speaking on behalf of Mothra."

Hutchinson didn't know what to make of all this. As if the fact that these girls existed wasn't shocking enough.

"Mothra?" he felt he dared to ask.

"Our mistress," the fairies explained. "She wished to express her apologies for startling you earlier, and her most profound thanks for trusting her."

"Wait, wait, wait..." Hutchinson said, holding up his hands in a time-out gesture. "Who's this 'Mothra'? Why isn't she here now?"

The fairies closed their eyes for a moment, as if hearing something the others could not. Their faces became more serious as they spoke again.

"We understand you have many questions," they said, "however we cannot stay for long. Your armies have detected us, and are coming here. We must say what we must, then leave."

Hutchinson didn't respond. He didn't know what to say right now. He and Keira remained silent as the fairies spoke again.

"Mothra sensed that a question has been plaguing your mind," they said, "regarding King Ghidorah-" on seeing the couple's confused faces they hastily added, "-you know him as Monster Zero - and the scientists who discovered the cells that called him here, Dr. Martin O'Brien and Dr. Lesley Jenkins. As a token of her gratitude, she wished to help you find the answers to these questions. Go to Newgate Asylum in Norfolk. You will find your answers there. That is all we can tell you for now, but don't worry..."

At this, there was a loud chirruping sound. Hutchinson recognised it instantly as the call of that moth creature. Both he and Keira ran to the living-room window, and sure enough, on the field outside, the moth was resting, gazing at the window with brilliant blue eyes. She released another call at them, before flapping those brightly-coloured wings and ascending into the clear night sky. Neither of them could believe their eyes. As they turned to look at the coffee table again, the Cosmos had vanished. Then Hutchinson heard a voice in his head; the same one he heard at Hastings:

_"I promise you the answers will come soon."_

"Was that..." Keira began, but thought it too tacky to say it was all a dream, knowing full well that it wasn't. "What was that all about?" She looked scared out of her mind.

"I..." Hutchinson said, words failing him, "I really don't know..."

"Are you going to do what they said?" Keira asked nervously, "Are you going to that asylum?"

"It's true what they said," Hutchinson said, scratching his chin, "I've been wondering what happened to those two scientists ever since the hoax was blown open. None of the news bulletins mentioned what happened to them, which I find odd. Maybe I'll go, though I feel it'll turn out to be a wild goose chase."

Keira looked at him nervously, just as the sounds of sirens could be heard outside.

"That'll be the police," Keira said, "The army won't be too far behind. No doubt they'll be wanting to talk to you. Should we tell them about those twins?"

"Nah..." Hutchinson said, "Who'd believe us? We'd probably end up getting chucked into Newgate ourselves." He released a huge yawn. "Looks like it'll be a while before we get to sleep tonight."

It was some time before Hutchinson got to sleep that night. He lay awake for a long time listening to his wife breathing; apparently she was better at masking the questions that must have been plaguing her mind about the Cosmos, and the identity of this 'Mothra'. As he lay there, he groaned as he understood who the Cosmos were referring to. The name the biggest clue, even though the idea of a giant bug having a name and intelligence seemed stupid beyond belief to his ears.


	3. It's All in the Mind

**It's All in the Mind**

It had been two days since the Cosmos' visit, and now Hutchinson was starting to wonder if this was all more trouble than it was worth.

The previous day had been terrible. After he had fended off numerous questions from the police and army that had arrived on the scene not long after Mothra's departure, he'd not had much sleep at all before being called to main headquarters in London for a hearing. They had wanted to hear from Hutchinson regarding some rather 'questionable' decisions they had heard about from the numerous reports. In particular they had wanted to know why the moth had subsequently landed just outside his house the night before. Hutchinson really hadn't been in the mood for a hearing, and he was willing to bet the fact that he kept yawning through the hearing wasn't helping his standing at all.

"Listen, Commander," the head of the assembly, General Rowell, had said reasonably, "We're not questioning your cabability in combat at all. We simply want to know why several reports state that a leader such as yourself hesitated in making a decision in such a critical situation."

"If you care to read my report again, sir," Hutchinson had replied, "You'll notice I already stated my reasoning behind my hesitation and my eventual decision. The moth was not aggressive, and after her arrival the creatures became non-violent, sir. I saw no reason to open fire unless it was in self-defence."

"Perhaps," Rowell nodded, "However, it was still too great a gamble to take. Now I'm not suggesting that the gamble didn't pay off on this occasion," he added, intercepting Hutchinson's protest, "but what if it hadn't? You are aware that the moth monster clogged up the weapons arrays on our battleships with webbing, right? We would have been entirely defenceless if those monsters had taken their fight elsewhere in the country. We could have had a massacre like that of two years ago. Millions of people lost their lives that day. Yet you still took the risk and called a ceasefire, after hesitation, even knowing the possible consequences?"

Hutchinson could only nod. He had not mentioned the voice he had heard. While it had sounded like a voice he could trust, he was sure that the military would not believe him.

"So what now?" he asked, disdainfully, "Are you saying I'm responsible for the lives we lost last night, sir?"

"No, you misunderstand me," Rowell hastily stated. "We do not blame you in the slightest for their deaths. All reports agree that it was an impossible situation, and we are in agreement. We detected the pterosaur was heading towards our land, but nothing we threw at it could divert its course. There was no way we could have anticipated the actions of either creature. You are not responsible."

Hutchinson sighed. He was still bracing himself for whatever they had in mind as far as 'action to compensate for his inaction' went.

"As to the matter of the moth's landing outside your house..." Rowell went on, "any idea why it might do that? There were no casualties; it did not even so much as flatten a blade of grass. Why would it do that?"

"I honestly don't know, sir," Hutchinson stated. He figured it would be too much to say that she was some kind of guardian who sent her emissaries to speak with him last night. "All I know is that, like you say, there was no damage and no casualties."

"I see..." Rowell said, apparently satisfied with that statement, though it was difficult to tell. Even if he wasn't, there wasn't much he could do about it, was there?

"Given your past good conduct, and the ultimate peaceful resolution of the conflict," Rowell stated, "we have decided that the most you will receive for this event is a formal warning. If such an event happens again, we will have to deal with it much more seriously. This meeting is over. Dismissed."

As the various other officers left, Hutchinson walked over to Rowell. Hutchinson trusted the general to a certain degree, but there were a couple of questions he wanted answering;

"Sir," he said, "Do you know what happened to those two creatures?"

"They didn't go to any other civilised areas," Rowell said, as the last of the officers left the room, "We tracked them to an isolated area of the Pacific. For now, we have classified the land-based creature as an 'Anguirus', and the flyer as a 'Rodan'." It was clear that they'd just looked at the creatures' nearest relations in a book and named them accordingly. "We've notified the armed forces of other countries, not to mention the Utah Foundation, about the existence of these creatures, so at least they know what to expect should they return."

Rowell leaned in closer. "Just between us, that's the reason we were so lenient on you. You should think yourself extremely lucky. You and your unit were lucky to survive Monster Zero's attack. One day though, your luck will run out. Just bear that in mind."

As Rowell was about to leave, Hutchinson stepped in front of him.

"There's just one other thing I need to know, sir," he said, "Do you know what happened to the scientists who discovered the M0-cells? Dr. O'Brien and Dr. Jenkins."

Rowell's eyes narrowed slightly as he spoke. "Not beyond what I read in the papers pertaining to the evidence of the cover-up."

"Oh?" Hutchinson said, as Rowell started towards the door. "So you don't know that at least one of them's in Newgate Asylum?"

Rowell froze. How had the man known _that_? That piece of information had managed to stay out of the media's attention range. In truth Hutchinson didn't know for certain, but his statement had gotten the reaction he wanted. He knew the general was in a position to obtain such undisclosed information; the man was always in one confidential meeting or another. Rowell looked around, as if making sure no-one was listening, before moving closer to Hutchinson.

"Listen," he said, eyes narrowing, "I don't know where you got that information, but let me ask you this. What's your interest?"

"It's related to Monster Zero," Hutchinson said simply. "I feel I have the right to know what happened to the scientists who found his cells, sir. It might help me understand that thing better, sir."

Rowell snarled. He knew something like this would happen, the minute the cover-up was exposed. However, now that the truth was out about the attempts to cover-up the truth about the M0 cells, he reasoned there was no sense in keeping this truth from him. What could Hutchinson do with the information anyway? It wasn't like either scientist was in any fit condition to talk now. He walked over to the large desk, picking up a scrap of paper, and began writing.

"Dr. O'Brien was committed to Newgate the day before Monster Zero emerged from that meteorite," he said as he wrote. "The American government saw it as an embarrasment that one of their scientists would go insane and murder his British partner. Both governments mutually agreed that the incident would damage Anglo-American relationships had it been made public, so it was never documented, not even on computer."

Hutchinson didn't stop looking at the general as he finished writing. So there was just one more cover-up left relating to Monster Zero, or King Ghidorah, whatever it was called. Rowell walked over to him, holding out the paper.

"That's all I know," Rowell stated. He liked Hutchinson, and saw him as a valuable team member, but the man was far too nosy for his own good, not to mention indecisive sometimes. It would get him into trouble one of these days. "If you need further information, you should ask around at the asylum. Take this." he said, handing the paper to Hutchinson. "Show this letter to the Newgate wardens, and they'll fill you in. My signature is one of the few things that'll grant permission to view details of this case."

As Rowell turned to leave, he turned to look at Hutchinson again.

"You're messing in affairs that were never meant to be uncovered," he stated. "Just like the man who exposed the Monster Zero cover-up. This is off-the-record, but still... You'd better know what you're doing."

That had been the previous day, and Hutchinson had once again had to wake up early to go to Norfolk. He had got to bed much earlier, but he still felt quite tired. Still, he'd insisted on going. He wanted to know what Dr. O'Brien had to say for himself, and the sooner he got it done the better.

Finally, after all those hours of travelling, he arrived up the driveway of Newgate Asylum. It was a clean, white building miles away from any towns, set in the middle of the countryside. As he walked into the equally white foyer, he saw several 'patients' milling around, each with an attendant. Several patients were merely attending for drug rehabilitation, but others seemed completely unaware that the world around them even existed. He walked straight up to the reception desk.

"Help you?" asked the male nurse attending here, a young red-haired man who's name tag read 'Webber'.

"Yeah," Hutchinson said, pulling out General Rowell's letter and handing it to him. "I'm making inquiries into Dr. Martin O'Brien. I heard he was a patient here."

Warden Webber's eyes went wide as he read the letter and saw the signature. "Just one minute, sir," he said, before picking up the phone.

"Hello, Director Cooper? Yes, someone from the British Army's asking about... you know... the patient in room 12B... Yes, I know it's a private matter, but he has a letter from General Rowell with him... Are you sure? Okay... I'll buzz him through." He hung up.

There was a loud buzzing sound, as the heavy door leading to the main hospital was opened up.

"I'm to take you to the doctor's cell," Webber said. "Follow me."

Hutchinson followed Webber through the door. The place had an unnaturally clean look to it, as he walked down the plain white corridors. He glanced into the large common room, snatching a glimpse of some severe obsessive-compulsive cases repeatedly cleaning themselves. They passed several other patients in the corridors, some of them grinned inanely at them as they passed, the wardens keeping a steely watch. As they progressed on into the 'Secure Isolation Wing', Hutchinson could hear several people yelling insanely, with several others sobbing, as if they had given up all hope.

Finally, Webber stopped outside room 12B. Before Hutchinson could look in through the small window, Webber spoke to him;

"I ought to tell you a few things first," he began, "We found him standing over the body of Dr. Lesley Jenkins the day before the meteorite fell to Earth. He was believed to be on the point of destroying the cell samples that they both found back in March that year. He was screaming about how 'he' was coming, that everyone on this planet would die, and that he was the only one who could stop it happening, that kind of shit. It's because of those ravings that the charges were dropped on grounds of insanity, so he was chucked in here and the world forgot about him. He was quiet after the Monster Zero attack, and seemed perfectly normal for the years following that. The most he ever did was talk in his sleep. Recently though, he's being regressing to how he was, just when we were thinking about letting him out." He looked at Hutchinson with genuine unease. "You sure you want to do this?"

Hutchinson looked resolute. "Positive," he said.

"Okay," Webber said, unlocking the heavy iron door and opening it quietly. "I'll be out here if anything happens."

Hutchinson nodded, walking past Webber into the white padded room. He heard the door shut behind him, locking him inside. Then, for the first time, he saw Dr. Martin O'Brien. He was slumped against the corner of the room, bound in a straitjacket. He was balding, with a brown moustache and trimmed beard covering the lower half of his head. He looked up as Hutchinson entered. Evidently he had been crying, as there was a tinge of red to his eyes.

"Who..." the sad, pitiful man spoke, almost like he had forgotten how to speak.

"Dr. O'Brien?" Hutchinson probed.

"Y-yes..." the doctor stammered. "Who are you? I never get visitors..."

"I'm Cmdr. Peter Hutchinson," was the reply, "British Army."

"Army..." O'Brien muttered, his eyes narrowing. "It was army types amongst others who locked me in here. I have nothing to say to you. Please leave." His voice was somewhat ragged. Clearly he had been breathing heavily before Hutchinson arrived.

"I need to ask you about Monster Zero," Hutchinson said, unperturbed. "I want to know what exactly happened, about those cells you found, and how you've ended up in here. I'm not leaving until you tell me everything." He folded his arms, making his intentions clear. Dr. O'Brien just started shaking his head numerous times, muttering to himself.

"I tried... I tried to warn them... but they wouldn't listen to me... how do I know he'll listen to me? No-one else believed me about King Ghidorah, how will this man be different?"

Hutchinson's eyes went wide. He suddenly remembered that those fairies had mentioned the name 'King Ghidorah', and he wondered how the doctor could possibly know that name.

"Did you say 'King Ghidorah'?" he asked, tentatively. "How did you know he was called that?"

O'Brien looked sharply up at him. The light of understanding seemed to be dawning in his eyes.

"Trying to warn who?" Hutchinson pressed on, knowing he'd got O'Brien's attention. "Warn them about what? What do you know about King Ghidorah? Please... I need to know."

O'Brien sighed, rocking slightly as he sat. He shuffled closer to Hutchinson, before pulling himself shakily to his feet.

"Listen to me carefully, commander," O'Brien said, in a voice that was low but sounded more reasonable than anything else he'd said so far. "I can tell you everything about King Ghidorah."


	4. The Liche

**The Liche**

"I suppose that's where all of this started," Dr. O'Brien began, "... with our discovery of the M0-cells. Dr. Jenkins and I found them during an archeaological dig in North Yorkshire, in March two years ago. It was a truly amazing discovery; fossilised skin samples, perfectly preserved within the rock. We thought this was the perfect opportunity to reveal much more information on the dinosaurs than we currently have. So we took them back to the laboratories in Ealing, and studied them.

"The findings were extraordinary! The skin was so well-preserved, a glistening golden colour, harder than crocodile skin. It was when we studied the cells up close that we made even more remarkable findings. The composition of the cells was similar to reptilian DNA, yet there were traces of unknown cells, compounds and amino acids buried deep inside them. We could not find any samples like them from any of our databanks. We thought we saw the first proof that extra-terrestrial life had visited this planet at one time or another; possibly even billions of years ago, in the time of the dinosaurs, or even older..."

At this, Dr. O'Brien bowed his head low, turning his face away from Hutchinson. He then began sobbing again. Hutchinson found something pathetic about watching a grown man break down into tears like this.

"I wish I'd never laid eyes on the fucking things!" O'Brien cried, his voice full of anguish.

Hutchinson leaned in closer. "What happened next?" he quickly asked, "You found the skin samples, then what?"

O'Brien slowly turned back to him, tears streaming down his face.

"Everything seemed to go well for a while..." he continued, in between sobs. "We continued studying the skin samples... should've thrown them away... yet we couldn't stop looking at them. We were... entranced by them somehow..."

He broke off at that point, as if remembering the events he was about to describe next were too painful.

"That's when I started hearing the voice..."

"Voice?" Hutchinson inquired. He thought he was going mad from hearing a woman's voice in his head, but how could a man who was supposed to be rational in his profession start hearing such voices?

"A strong, commanding male voice..." O'Brien said, his eyes growing wide, "A voice as old as the universe itself... the voice of King Ghidorah."

Hutchinson's mouth fell open. He felt he was officially talking to a lunatic, but he felt compelled to continue listening.

"He spoke to me through my mind..." O'Brien went on, " He asked me a number of questions about our planet, and the life that existed on it. I didn't want to answer him, but he..." His head bent even lower. "For the first few nights, I could ignore him, but then, as each day in the lab passed he tortured me in my mind. He showed me visions of the deeds he had done. He showed me much. I saw many worlds, fantastic places, where technology and biology and even physical laws were completely unlike our own planet." At this point, he went quiet, sobbing again.

"Yeah?" Hutchinson probed, "Then what? What else did he show you?"

"Fire..." O'Brien replied slowly, "Destruction... Death... King Ghidorah showed me how he destroyed them all; destroyed all life on the worlds he visited. He absorbed all of that life into his own self; absorbing the very essence of the planets themselves, using it to fuel his own tremendous powers. He constantly thirsts for fresh blood, for fresh power... I don't think any culture survived long enough to document his existence. Every world he visited is now nothing more than a dead, rotting husk..."

"Where did he come from?" Hutchinson asked. "What gave birth to a monster like that?"

"I don't know..." O'Brien said, shaking his head. "He never completely told me. All I know is that he is as old as time itself. Through his visions, I witnessed the extinction of the dinosaurs, and the fall of Atlantis..."

"Wait..." Hutchinson said, raising his hand... "You're telling me he's been here before?!"

"Yes..." O'Brien explained, panting heavily, "He has tried to rape this world of it's lifeforce before. Magic used to exist on this world, but he absorbed it all. Every time he attacked though, he was stopped by a guardian, a creature who was successful in driving him back. Usually it was a giant moth, known as Mothra."

So that moth monster _was_ Mothra... Hutchinson was finding this even harder to believe by the minute.

"After a while," O'Brien continued, "he started whispering to me of power, of superiority... of surpassing all of life's greatest achievements. He wanted me to make preparations for his arrival, commit deeds so horrific; blood sacrifices and dark rituals... He wanted me to perform these to heighten his power, render him invincible.

"You see..." he continued, "King Ghidorah has absorbed so much power over the millennia, so much that even if a part of his body breaks away from him, even so much as a scrap of skin... That part still holds his strong will; a piece of his very soul. He has found out how to use that to his advantage. Any sentient being that comes into regular contact with the cells, any sentient being... King Ghidorah's will creeps into them, infecting their very souls like poison..."

Hutchinson could scarcely believe his ears. He had a horrible feeling he could guess where this story was going.

"King Ghidorah's will is so powerful..." O'Brien went on, "Eventually, regardless of how strong the person is, if they spend enough time near the cells, his soul dominates them completely, placing the host completely under their master Ghidorah's control... They become his Liche, his representative of the race in question... They are the ones who perform the rituals, ensure their master cannot be defeated, no matter what defences the planet in question has. I have seen all of them be destroyed with the rest upon King Ghidorah's arrival. He cares not for his subjects, and yet they are loyal to him to the end..." He bowed his head even lower, his sobs increasing. "He tried to do that to me, tried to make me his slave..."

"What about Dr. Jenkins?" he asked. "Did this happen to her as well?"

"Yes..." O'Brien confirmed, his voice even more sombre. "Lesley worked around the cells far more often than I did. We both fell under his influence, arguments broke out between us, over who should work with the cells more often. Once or twice things even became violent... There can only be one Liche, and some who have fallen under King Ghidorah's influence are willing to fight to the death to be granted this 'honour'. How could she not be falling under his insidious influence? King Ghidorah was playing us against each other like puppets. He wanted to know who was the most worthy of performing the rituals for him...

"I tried to resist... I wanted to stop him... I knew what King Ghidorah was about to do... I could still be saved... So I tried to destroy the cells. When I got to the lab that night, Lesley was there. We had worked together for 3 years; I was going to propose to her..." he broke off, and started crying again. It was a half-minute before he stopped. "I still remember seeing her face... That look of pure evil... Those terrible, blood-red eyes...

"The minute I saw those eyes, I knew that wasn't Lesley... She was on the very brink of becoming King Ghidorah's Liche; about to achieve total fusion with his cells and his very soul... I knew I couldn't allow Lesley's body to be used for such evil... I took the scalpel from the examination table... She... Such pure evil couldn't exist, even if it resided in the body of someone I loved..."

Hutchinson placed a hand to his head. This was too much to take. He could guess what happened next. He killed her, believing that the dragon was possessing her, controlling her body. Dr. O'Brien continued to sob wretchedly, gazing up at Hutchinson with a pitiable look.

"DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?!?!" O'Brien suddenly yelled so loudly that Hutchinson jumped. O'Brien was breaking down completely, sobbing loudly, tears streaming down his face.

"Dear God..." he said, his voice full of genuine anguish and regret, "I... _had_ to do it... _had_ to..." He slowly looked back up at Hutchinson, who was too shocked to respond.

"You believe me, don't you?" he said, almost begging. After a few awkward moments of slience, he asked again, barely louder than a whisper, "Don't you?"

Hutchinson was too scared to reply. He was pretty sure he had a clear insight into a disturbed mind. What he was hearing was too fantastical to be true, but then again so was being visited by two tiny twins who answered to a moth. He slowly moved back towards the door.

"Er... thank you, Dr. O'Brien," he said. "I'd better go now..."

"He's coming back!" Dr. O'Brien suddenly called, just as Hutchinson reached the door. Hutchinson slowly turned round to hear him.

"His voice..." O'Brien continued, seemingly out of his mind, "King Ghidorah's voice... I've been hearing it in my head again... He's returning to finish what he started two years ago... He must have found another to use as his Liche..."

At this, Hutchinson just shook his head. They had thrown everything they had at him in London, and he had seen the massive dragon collapse. It wasn't possible that the monster was coming back.

"King Ghidorah's dead..." Hutchinson muttered. "I saw him die..."

Suddenly, O'Brien lunged straight at him, ramming him into the padded walls. Hutchinson tried to fight the madman off, but he seemed far stronger than he looked. He also noticed that his eyes had momentarily turned a deep, blood red.

"DAMN YOUR EYES!!!" O'Brien shouted. "He cannot be killed so easily! He's coming back! He will steal our souls and send us to eternal damnation! He will-"

He was suddenly pulled off of the struggling soldier by Webber, who had heard the commotion from outside and ran into the room. After pulling the scientist off he punched his stomach, sending the madman sprawling to the floor. Webber helped Hutchinson to his feet, and the two walked out of the cell. As Hutchinson looked back in, O'Brien looked back up at him, his eyes wide, back to their usual colour, but still with a red tinge. He looked like he had lost all will to live.

"The hydra comes..." he muttered, before shouting, "HE WILL DAMN US ALL!!!"

With that, Webber slammed the cell door shut and locked it. O'Briens ravings had prompted some of the other inmates to release loud yells of their own. Hutchinson breathed hard. That had to be the scariest experience of his life. None of what Dr. O'Brien said could possibly be true. That was what he kept telling himself, barely resisting the urge to run as he left the asylum building.


	5. Revelations

**Revelations**

All the way home, Hutchinson could not get Dr. O'Brien's words out of his head. The guy was truly insane. Or at least that's what he kept telling himself, to try to reassure his own mind that what he had heard couldn't possibly be true. Then he thought about what had happened when the madman had attacked him. The eyes had definitely turned blood red then. Not only that, now that he thought about it, the pupils had become slits. They had looked just like that 'King Ghidorah's' eyes.

Hutchinson was scared. He was torn between trying to keep his feet on the ground and being forced to accept the impossible. So many strange things had happened to him over the past few nights, he didn't know what to make of it. It had all started with that moth, that Mothra, and those twins. He shook himself, aware that he was attracting uncomfortable looks from the other passengers on the train back to London. Now that he had gained insight into a mind that was completely broken, he began to wonder what would happen if other people's minds were to break. He felt like his own mind was on the verge of breaking itself.

As he reached London, and caught a bus heading towards Hayward's Heath, his phone started to ring. He picked it up and answered.

_"Cmdr. Hutchinson,"_ a voice immediately spoke, _"This is the Royal Air Force tracking station, Hampstead Heath. We thought you needed to know this."_

"Yeah, what is it?" Hutchinson asked. If they had contacted him, that had to mean another monster attack; not something he needed right now in his present condition.

_"We've detected a large object flying rapidly towards the south of England,"_ the tracker stated. _"Two Tornadoes were dispatched to intercept, and have confirmed the object as the moth monster. We're awaiting instructions. Do we open fire?"_

It seemed that Mothra had returned to speak to him about what had just happened. He still felt he was going insane, admitting to himself that that moth was magic in some way, but in the end he thought it best not to run the risk of being wrong.

"Negative," he stated, "Escort the moth, allow her to land and leave."

There was silence on the other end. Clearly they were seriously questioning Hutchinson's sanity with that statement.

_"Understood,"_ the tracker finally stated, rather questioningly. _"We'll maintain weapons lock though, just to be on the safe side."_

"Copy that," Hutchinson replied. The line then went dead.

Half an hour later though, the phone rang again. Hutchinson picked it up. It was a call from his home phone number. He answered, figuring it would be Keira, and he had the feeling he knew what was coming next.

"Keira?" he answered.

_"Peter?"_ Keira said, sounding like she was in shock. _"Thank God. I think you'd better get home right away... That... that thing... those girls... they're here..."_

"I know, honey," Hutchinson said, "I just got a call from the tracking station. Just stay calm, I'll be home shortly."

_"Please do..."_ Keira said, faintly. _"I don't know how long I can take these 'guests' showing up..."_

With that, she hung up. Hutchinson shook his head. He hated how his wife had gotten involved in this. He was beginning to wish he'd shot that moth down when he had the chance. Perhaps if he had, they wouldn't be having all these problems now. Finally, he arrived safely back at the town. He ran down the quiet streets to his house, only to find a large crowd stood around it. All of them were clearly trying to get a look at the new arrival. Hutchinson pushed his way through, the soldiers keeping the crowds back allowing him to pass through. Outside the house, several soldiers were lined, their rifles trained on the giant Mothra, who seemed completely unperturbed by the amount of attention she was receiving. Up ahead, Hutchinson saw the two Tornadoes circling overhead, keeping a close eye on the giant moth. Hutchinson tried to lighten the mood his own brain seemed to be in, but not even trying to hope that people had locked their woollens indoors was improving his mood.

In the end, he stepped back into the house, to find Keira waiting for him in the living room. She was shaking, though not quite as badly as she was the last time this had happened. She embraced Hutchinson the minute he stepped into the room. On the coffee table, he spotted the two Cosmos, their faces perked up when they saw him, and they curtseyed.

"Cmdr. Hutchinson," they said in unison, "Nice to see you again."

"They..." Keira said, pulling away from him and sitting down on the sofa, "They want a word with you. I offered them a drink, but they turned me down. They're quite chatty as well, talked about a lot of things, even though I don't think I understand half of it."

"Is Danny okay?" Hutchinson said.

"I told him to stay in his room," she replied. "He protested, saying he wanted to go outside to get a close look at the moth... well, Mothra," she added, glancing nervously at the Cosmos, who didn't seem at all offended with that statement. "He thought those fairies were dolls. He's still in his room now, though. He'll have a good view of Mothra from his window, so no doubt that's keeping him busy. Just like his father, forever fascinated by big monsters."

Hutchinson breathed a sigh of relief. At least his wife and son were alright. It looked like no harm would be done here.

"So what happened there anyway?" Keira asked. "At that asylum?"

Hutchinson sat down, facing the Cosmos. "I take it that's why you're here?" he asked them.

The twins nodded, their faces becoming grave. "Yes," they said, "Now you have at least an insight into the true terrifying powers that King Ghidorah possesses. Mothra's sorry for putting you in that position, but she felt it was your right to know, given your previous battle against the demon. She sensed what had happened to Dr. O'Brien, heard his story through his thoughts, and wanted you to find out."

"So..." Hutchinson breathed, not believing he was talking to these two again, "Everything Dr. O'Brien said was true? About this 'Liche'?"

"Yes," the Cosmos replied. "King Ghidorah's evil knows no bounds. He will use and destroy any creature to achieve his ends. It is saddening as to how the issue was resolved, but if Dr. O'Brien had not stopped Dr. Jenkins when he did, she would have become King Ghidorah's Liche, and would have ensured her master's victory.

"King Ghidorah's will can twist anyone's mind, and fill even the most untainted of hearts with great perversions, and a hatred so terrible it sends them insane. It was a Liche that sealed the free use of magic, prevented humans from using it so that they could not fight him. Fortunately the Liche was stopped before King Ghidorah became too powerful that time. That was during the fall of Atlantis.

"When he attacked your country before, he was over-confident. He had sensed the death of the Liche he was creating, but he did not let that deter him. He has absorbed so much power over the years he thought he wouldn't need a Liche. So he attempted a direct confrontation without his Liche to generate more power for him. He now knows what to expect, and will not be so easily surprised next time."

"King Ghidorah's dead!" Hutchinson half-shouted. "I saw him die! Nothing could survive all that we threw at him!"

The Cosmos shook their heads sadly. "King Ghidorah is too powerful to be killed by brute force. He has absorbed so much power, we don't think he will ever understand the concept of death. So far Mothra has succeeded in driving him back, but even she will never be able to stop him completely. With his increasing power, she knows she can no longer fight alone. She needs help."

"But how did all this happen?" Hutchinson asked incredulously. "How can such a thing exist? How can your precious Mothra exist?!"

The Cosmos sighed. "Mana is the life force of all planets. Life on the planets is what generates Mana. Every living creature empowers this Mana, allowing life to continue to exist. It is an ancient magic in its purest form, working both ways; it generates life, and also requires life to maintain it. It is this Mana that created Mothra, to guard all life on Earth, to guard Mana. It is this Mana that King Ghidorah seeks, to selfishly increase his own power. He has destroyed all life on countless worlds to obtain it. If he was to absorb all Mana, he would have enough power to control the very barriers of time and space... He would be able to reshape this universe as he saw fit; recreate it in his image, as a place where all of his most twisted desires can be realised.

"This planet is one of the last places where Mana is abundant..." the Cosmos said, closing their eyes sadly. "Mothra has sworn to give her life to protect the peoples on this planet. To suffer at King Ghidorah's hands is a terrible fate, one that must never be allowed to happen again."

They looked back up at Hutchinson, whose eyes were wide, trying to take all this in. "You must fight too, when King Ghidorah returns to this planet. All humans must unite against this demon."

"You're asking for a miracle," Hutchinson said, shaking his head. "Nobody helped us when he came two years ago; people always kill each other... If anything, King Ghidorah's just gonna make them panic all the more!"

The Cosmos looked straight up sagely, almost as if they were looking through the ceiling to the sky beyond.

"Sometimes," they said sagely, "the very worst events bring out the very best in people. You will understand when the time comes. A grudge should not be valued over the sanctity of life. Do not be so quick to turn away those in need."

Hutchinson closed his eyes. It was true, he hadn't been able to forgive the rest of the world for leaving England alone during the attack. He knew King Ghidorah had to be stopped though if he ever came back, so what was the point of hating the world?

"We must go now," the Cosmos said. "Mothra must discuss these matters with her other associates, others like you who are committed to defending this world against King Ghidorah." They smiled reassuringly again. "Take heart. There are great powers that still exist, powers that not even King Ghidorah can understand. We can use this to stop him once again."

With that, there was a rush of wings from outside. Hutchinson and Keira ran to the window, to see Mothra taking off. Shouts arose from the crowd gathered below. She gave one last, loud chirrup as she flew away from the area. The Tornadoes escorted her away, no doubt to keep an eye on her as she left their airspace.

Hutchinson and Keira looked at each other. Both still had a hard time believing what they had seen and heard. Whatever was going on, it was well beyond their control; Hutchinson still was not sure what they meant by all that they had said. All that seemed to be certain was that King Ghidorah was coming back, as hard as he found it to believe.

He and Keira embraced, both fearful for their lives and the lives of those they cared about. As they did so, Hutchinson could not help but think about Dr. O'Brien, who would never be able to be with those he loved again.


End file.
